It seems ...

[shof]

This is awesome. Turning into a "family bragging rights" tournament for me. Son - Texas Tech alum, Daughter - UTSA senior, me - winner (U{S}L alum)

[GoneGolfin]

Brian,

I will be listening to the games on the radio, but if you would, I would greatly appreciate your analysis of how the team looked.

Also, I saw in another post that Texas Tech may have been added to the field. If they have and we play them, how would it affect us? What kinid of a team is Texas Tech expected to field this year. Thanks.

Texas Tech has a bit of an advantage in that they will be facing the Cajuns in their first game, Saturday morning. This means that the Cajuns will likely face the Red Raider #1, right-hander AJ Ramos. Ramos is no Farquhar/Moody/Glass, but he is steady and can certainly beat the Cajuns. Ramos shut down the Aggie bats to fetch the win last season in Lubbock. He also threw a complete game shutout against Kansas last season (Lubbock). If not Ramos, it could be sophomore transfer Nate Karns. The hard-throwing righty Karns was a 10th round draft choice out of high school and played very well in his freshman year at NC State. Overall, with the influx of some transfer talent and high school recruits, this could be a much improved pitching staff.

Outfielder Roger Kieschnick is one of the best players in the country and should go high in the draft (first couple of rounds). The left-handed hitting Kieschnick has plenty of pop in his bat and can run. This will be a player to watch this weekend and the matchup with Moody on Saturday will be quite interesting. Overall, the outfield is very good. The Red Raider lineup has suffered some setbacks with the loss of their starting shortstop (torn ACL in the fall) and Catcher (4th round draft pick) from last season. But they still return five of their top six hitters and will be competitive at the plate. The Red Raiders play good defense and have a little bit of speed to cause problems for the opposition.

Texas Tech finished last (10th) in the Big XII last season, so it is not surprising that many media sources expect them to finish last again. Longtime coach Larry Hays is still at the helm, but there is new blood in the assistant coaching ranks. Dan Spencer, pitching coach from two-time defending champion Oregon State joins the Red Raiders and will get this pitching staff into shape (recall that Oregon State was really built around pitching and some good defensive play). I have not heard this mentioned, but I would suspect that Spencer is being groomed to take Larry Hays' place when he calls it quits.

This is a good baseball program that has had its setbacks recently. I do expect them to be much improved this season. I expect them to be a Top 75 RPI program (and not finish 10th in the Big XII). But I think cracking the upper half of a very good Big XII will be too much for the Red Raiders this season.

Brian

[CajunProud]

_ Texas Tech has a bit of an advantage in that they will be facing the Cajuns in their first game, Saturday morning. This means that the Cajuns will likely face the Red Raider #1, right-hander AJ Ramos. Ramos is no Farquhar/Moody/Glass, but he is steady and can certainly beat the Cajuns. Ramos shut down the Aggie bats to fetch the win last season in Lubbock. He also threw a complete game shutout against Kansas last season (Lubbock). If not Ramos, it could be sophomore transfer Nate Karns. The hard-throwing righty Karns was a 10th round draft choice out of high school and played very well in his freshman year at NC State. Overall, with the influx of some transfer talent and high school recruits, this could be a much improved pitching staff.

Outfielder Roger Kieschnick is one of the best players in the country and should go high in the draft (first couple of rounds). The left-handed hitting Kieschnick has plenty of pop in his bat and can run. This will be a player to watch this weekend and the matchup with Moody on Saturday will be quite interesting. Overall, the outfield is very good. The Red Raider lineup has suffered some setbacks with the loss of their starting shortstop (torn ACL in the fall) and Catcher (4th round draft pick) from last season. But they still return five of their top six hitters and will be competitive at the plate. The Red Raiders play good defense and have a little bit of speed to cause problems for the opposition.

Texas Tech finished last (10th) in the Big XII last season, so it is not surprising that many media sources expect them to finish last again. Longtime coach Larry Hays is still at the helm, but there is new blood in the assistant coaching ranks. Dan Spencer, pitching coach from two-time defending champion Oregon State joins the Red Raiders and will get this pitching staff into shape (recall that Oregon State was really built around pitching and some good defensive play). I have not heard this mentioned, but I would suspect that Spencer is being groomed to take Larry Hays' place when he calls it quits.

This is a good baseball program that has had its setbacks recently. I do expect them to be much improved this season. I expect them to be a Top 75 RPI program (and not finish 10th in the Big XII). But I think cracking the upper half of a very good Big XII will be too much for the Red Raiders this season.

Brian _

Thanks Brian. Always love the insight you provide.

[GoneGolfin]

Texas Tech finished last (10th) in the Big XII last season, so it is not surprising that many media sources expect them to finish last again. Longtime coach Larry Hays is still at the helm, but there is new blood in the assistant coaching ranks. Dan Spencer, pitching coach from two-time defending champion Oregon State joins the Red Raiders and will get this pitching staff into shape (recall that Oregon State was really built around pitching and some good defensive play). I have not heard this mentioned, but I would suspect that Spencer is being groomed to take Larry Hays' place when he calls it quits.

Brian

It looks as if I had this one correct.

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-b...060208aaa.html